Uncensored Money Season Eight: New Financial Year Beats New Year's Resolutions: 5 Things To Actually Do This July

Melissa Browne: Ex-Accountant, Ex-Financial Advisor, Ex-Working Till I Drop, Now Serial Entrepreneur & Author, Financial Wellness Advocate, Living a Life by Design | 02/07/2026

Show Notes

Your New Year's resolutions were never going to work, and it's not because you're lazy. You made them drunk on champagne and optimism, on behalf of a version of you with far more bandwidth than you actually have on a wet Tuesday in February. 

So if those January money goals quietly died months ago? Good. Let them. 

Because it's the first of July. New financial year. New payslips, fresh tax year, super statements landing, and twelve months of real numbers you can finally look at instead of guess at. This , not January,  is the reset that actually has machinery behind it. 

In this episode, Mel walks through five things worth doing this new financial year: how to find more cash by looking at both sides of the ledger (not just the lattes), how to clear the bad debt and choose not to reach for it again, why a five-minute conversation about your mortgage could save you more than a year of skipped coffees, how to set one ridiculously specific goal instead of five vague ones, and the cup-of-tea's worth of admin that matters more than almost anything else: checking your super. Plus a bonus for anyone running a business. 

No hype. No shame. Just what to actually do next. 

What Mel covers in this episode: 

• Why the new financial year beats New Year's resolutions every time 

• Finding more cash by asking two questions at once: where can I cut, and where can I bring more in 

• The four types of debt (bear trap, quicksand, bridge, fast car) and what to do with each 

• Why clearing debt is only half the job and how to make it stick 

• The loyalty tax on your mortgage, and how a broker does the shopping for you 

• How to set one goal so specific a ten-year-old could grade you on it 

• Your new-financial-year super checklist: find it, consolidate it, check the fees, and the super-splitting conversation to have if you've taken a career break 

• A bonus for business owners: reviewing last year honestly, and being willing to let go of what's no longer working 

Links mentioned in the episode are below:

Mel's Secret Business Club 9 spots left and starss 28 July: https://www.melissabrowne.com.au/msbc

My Financial Adulting Plan at https://www.melissabrowne.com.au/financialadulting

20+ ways to find 10k in 12 months link: melissabrowne.com.au/find$10kin12months 

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General Advice Warning: This podcast contains general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances, objectives or needs. Mel Browne Money Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd (AFSL: 563 907). Please consider whether the information is appropriate for you, and speak to a licensed financial adviser, accountant or tax professional before making any financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. 

For more tips and resources, visit us at melissabrowne.com.au, on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok @MelBrowne.Money or send us an email at hello@melissabrowne.com.au.

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Transcription

Mel: Here's a thought that might annoy you at first, and that is your news resolutions were never going to work. Never. Not because you were lazy or undisciplined or just not a money person. They were never gonna work because you made them probably drunk. whether it was drunk on champagne or fireworks or that anything is possible, year of the fire horse, euphoria that so many people felt this year.

And you probably made a list of promises on behalf of a woman who has significantly more bandwidth than you actually have on a cold, what are we, Thursday in July. So if your January money resolutions have quietly died, good. As Melgi Mel Robins says, let them. Because it's the first of July, it's a new financial year, well it's the second today, and this, not January, is your rural reset.

Lawsie: July, yes, July.

Mel: So, welcome to Uncensored Money. Let's go with our half-year reset. But before we do that, the bit I have to say is that everything in this episode is general information only. It doesn't take into account your personal situation, your goals, or your needs because I don't know them. I'm talking to many of you at once. So please take what's useful, and if you need advice specific to you, go see a licensed professional who can actually look at your numbers. Mel Browne Money is a corporate authorised rep of RASK licensing and the full warning is in the show notes. So, housekeeping done. Let me make a case for why today matters in the first of January before we jump in. Because in January, you set resolutions from a fantasy. New Year's Eve is your sparkle and possibility in New Year, New May, and you weren't making a plan, you were making a wish list. And the version of you writing that list had no idea what the next six months' worth of life were gonna throw at her.

I know me. Lausie, I didn't think that I was going to shut down MFAP on 1st of Jan. So I feel like this is so me. And July U and me is different. July U has data. And because here's what the new financial year actually comes with that January never did. A fresh tax year, new pay slips, your super statements landing. You know, 12 months of real numbers you can look at instead of guess at it.

And there's genuine machinery attached to this data, to this date. So nothing is attached to a hangover in the first of January except regret and maybe a gym membership you're gonna cancel in March. And I think this quietness is the gift. There's no New Year New Year noise right now. Yes, there's been a whole bunch of endo-financial year sales, but no one's watching, no one's judging what you did or didn't do.

It's just you and a clean slate and an aversion of you who's lived enough real life to actually know what she wants. So, today we are not going to ask Losi and I, why didn't you do the thing you said you would do in January? That question only produces shame, and shame has never once helped anyone with their goals. Instead, we're gonna ask better questions today. And it's gonna start with: what do I actually want my money to look like?

By the 30th of June next year. And then we're gonna give do five things about it. So I am joined today by the planning ninja Lausie, who, if you can see her, if this is the bit that's going on socials, she's in her van where she is very much living her goal life. And Lausie and I will run through these five things with me today to keep us on track. So, Lawsie do you want to kick us off with number one? Exactly, this is your sweet spot.

Lawsie: Planning details. For sure. So the first one is to find more cash and stop looking just at your spending. So look at what you could actually bring in rather than just focusing on what's going out because most money advice, when you say I need more cash, we'll tell you the same thing. It's cut back, it's cancel subscriptions, skip the copy as if, stop eating out, all of those things. And yes, for some of you,

you might need to, right? Like if you are in, you know, really bad debt or, you know, a debt cycle and all of those things. Yes, cutting back expenses where possible and stripping things right back could be the right thing for you to do and maybe be the thing that you do need to do, even if it's just for a season. But here's what the spend less advice is quietly missing, is there is a limit to how much you can cut. Because I know when we talk to people and things, some of them go, I can't cut anything else. I have pulled everything else back. It's like that, you can only tighten your belt so far. it's looking at that and going, a ceiling on what you can reduce, but there's no ceiling on how much you can bring in. Potentially you might feel there is, you might be putting some self-imposed, you know, ceilings in place or thinking, oh no, I can't do that promotion or I can't do this, that and the other. But what we want to do this new financial year is start asking both questions at the same time. So not just where can I cut, but where can I bring more in? Could you pick up a short term contract or some extra hours? Can you rent out a room even to a student for a semester?

Lawsie: Some of these are probably making you sweat but it's about challenging different ideas and what you can do like can you rent out your driveway your parking space your caravan clearly I'm not renting out mine I'm living in it but if you've had one that's sitting there you don't use it you only use it for that one holiday camping trip at Christmas time like is it something that you could rent out for someone else to use in the meantime and just bring in some dollars can you sell stuff that you're not using can you monetize a skill that you've been sitting on for three years if you're someone that is I don't know, a great proofreader. Like you can go and do things with that. So it's not saying, yes, you have to go and get another job and all of those things, because we know lots of you are busy, but it is looking at ways to bring it in. And if you want to find out more, we've got a free guide that we'll put link in the show notes as well. 20 ways to find an extra 10K in the next 12 months. So it's not just the theory of its actual things that you can go and do, which, and it will cover both sides. So yes, there's some things that will talk about reducing your expenses and others will be ideas on how you can bring more money in because you can't out budget a cash problem forever. And at some point you have to look at the other side of the ledger, particularly as we've all been seeing at the moment, or the last couple of years, just with those rising costs of living.

Mel: Yeah. And I've just done this. So I run this challenge of finding 10k in 12 months myself to make sure it all still works and it's all still relevant. And it's just a good thing to do anyway. And I've just done, I tend to do it quarterly rather than monthly. And I've just done a close assignment at two different places. So I gave it all a consignment.

Lawsie: Consignment? Did you do an assignment? Did you do project?

Mel: Assignment a close consignment. So I started with one shop, they sold a whole bunch, then I took it the rest of what was left to another shop, and they sold a lot of what was left, and I made a lazy $2,200, which means I am so on track for my 10k this year. And that's not the only thing consigning clothes that I'll do. I'll also rent stuff out. So at formal time, I don't want to part with some stuff, but I rent so it's what things do you do when it comes to finding more cash, like you said, Lawsie?

Lawsie: I have to confess that I do stick on the other side of the ledger. But I think the reason for that is because I'm in a bit of a different position where I am trying, like I've dropped my days down now. Like if I wanted to quickly boost up, I could come and beg for my fifth day back with you. I could pick up another job. I could do some contracting. There's so many things that I could do. But for me, I've traded time and money so I can do more van things. And so I definitely look at the other side of it, but I'm not, I still do things like using shop back apps and stuff like that, which are bringing in extra dollars there. Yes. I'm also then looking at making sure electricity bills and all those things are as low as possible on the phone bills and doing that stuff. And that's just surprise, surprise part of my routine. Don't really think about it. Just do it. But yeah, I think it is still looking, yeah, using things like shop back and stuff like that.

Mel: Yes.
Lawsie: Like you are still getting in dollars. But like I said, it's just because I've flipped the typical equation. So my thing is more focused on the expenses and their income, but even stuff like making sure that money that I've got sitting in bank accounts is in high interest accounts and the best interest rate that serves me. So that is still bringing in extra money and stuff like that.

Mel: Yeah, so you're willing to do the work, to find better deals and to make sure your money's working hard for you, which I think people just lazily don't do. So I think to that point it's turning off apps, it's turning off, yeah, it's finding the better deal, it's not having all the streaming services. Because I know I've talked to you about shows before and you're like, yeah, yeah, I'm not on that. Like it's just like it's just being smart about that. If you're not prepared or you don't want to do more about finding cash, you can find it in other ways that's not just cutting back. And I must admit, I just got my Optus phone bill. None of this is sponsored by the way every time we make a brand, we mention a brand. And the first thing it did, and I've left it on my kitchen counter because it was a reminder to me when they said it was going up by a dollar. I'm like, good, that's my reminder to go and get a better deal. because I know if I go and do a contract with them again, because I'm out of contract, I'll get a better deal. So yeah, it's just that it's it's doing it, which too few people do.

So the second thing, if you want, so we're talking about the top five things you can do for your mid-year reset and that's better than you, is to get rid of the bad debt and choose not to pick it back up. And we talk about this a lot, but probably what I don't say often enough is when I was in that multi-basement bedroom at age 33 from giving all that money away, I ended up in five figures of debt.

And I was an accountant at the time, I know, I know. So when I talk to you about debt, I'm not talking to you from some tidy little pedestal. I'm talking to you from that basement bedroom that I was in. And here's what I learned climbing out of it. That the finance industry gives you two categories, good debt and bad debt, and calls it a day and says, you know, don't touch, don't touch bad debt, have good debt.

But I think it's more useful to sort your debt into four piles. And which pile you're in changes everything about what you're gonna do next. So just to run through them quickly, and I know we've spent whole episodes on this, but pile one is your really freaking bad debt or the bear trap. So payday loans, predatory lenders, anything charging you an eye watering rate. And even if it doesn't seem like an eye-watering rate, like if you get a $2,000 nimble loan, their comparative rate is 68%.

Interest in fees like rid and that's on their website. so it's a trap. Often you can't get out of a loan and you shouldn't have to. So free financial counsellors are are exist exactly for the for this. If you're in that

Washing machine of really freaking bad debt. If you have that bear trap on, go and see a financial counselor this month. But pile two, I think, is the sneakiest, and that's the quicksand. So credit cards, after payday, after pay spirals, other buy now, pay later. And here's the part people don't want to hear. Even if you're not being charged interest, it is still costing you because these products are designed to make you spend more. And that's not my opinion. So Afterpay's own website.

Will tell their users, spend, will tell you that their users spend 44%, 54% more when they use Afterpay. Like that's on Afterpay's own websites. Not independent research, it's them bragging. So that's the pile you attacked aggressively with the highest interest rate first. And pile three is the bridge. So this is your mortgage, your hex debt. And chances are a lot of people looked at their a tax annual tax statement this year and went, ooh, that hex debt's high. Gee, I'd like to get rid of that. No. Cause this is okay debt. It's less it's lower. It's it's tied to wage growth and inflation, which is smaller than what I can get in a high interest savings account. So because of that opportunity cost, we want to be smart with it. And same with mortgage. Being debt free, there's an opportunity cost with that. Because if my mortgage is 6% and I can get 9.3 in the share market, then I'm foregoing a return. So it's debt that's actually getting you somewhere and you probably don't love it, but it's about getting comfortable with it, not overpaying wildly on it. And this really matters investing while you carry it.

I feel like a pelican just went over the bridge where you were, Lawsie, which I love. Lawsy's in a van, which is so funny when you I can hear you the

Lawsie: I need to cry. Yeah, a few, yeah, not far from the beach and there's plenty of wildlife. It's in a national park. It's all the things.

Mel: I feel like this though for people listening as we're talking about Gols and Dead, it's like that ambient calming sounds that they can just as we're talking hear the beach, hear the waves, hear the crows.

Lawsie: Least it's not a cockatoo squawking.

Mel: The fourth debt is the good debt. So the fast car. And this is debt used deliberately to build wealth. So to buy an investment property, start a business, buy shares. And step one this new financial year is knowing which piles you have. Which of those four debts do you have? And step two is this is the bit that the just pay it off crowd skips, deciding not to reach for it again because paying off a credit card and then treating it as like a 10 grand top-up on your income is kind of like bailing out a boat without plugging the hole.

If you're gonna keep going back to it, it's kind of like sending a drug an alcoholic into the pub and expecting them to behave. Eventually they're probably gonna succumb. So here's the line I want you to hold on to. Buying the block of Hague's chocolate isn't the financial mistake, buying it on afterpay is enjoy the chocolate, just don't finance it. And I know because I've stood next to how many times have I been into Hague's Law Dog?

Lawsie: God, weekly, for the last what, 10 years?

Mel: And they won't sponsor us still. Seriously, if anyone knows Hague's, knows anyone there, please tell them to contact us because they should be sponsoring us for Her Wealth Her Way conference. But I digress. I see people tapping their credit card with it. So I know people buying that on credit card, and it's understanding you're gonna overspend when you use it. But if it and if you're paying interest, I rerun some numbers the other day. You're gonna take 30 years to pay it if you're paying minimum. Like it's just obscene. And you're gonna pay more than three times as much. And like I'm barely comfortable paying 25 bucks for my bag of chocolate. Imagine paying 75. Like think of it that way. Would you pay three times as much? Just stop using it.

Lawsie: Yeah, definitely. No to credit cards and buy now pay later. All the things.

Mel: Yeah. Now Law-Dog number three is something I was banging on to my my financial adulting piece last night because we hit property week.

Lawsie: So the next one on our list is to talk to a mortgage broker. And so quick question to not to you, Mel. No, not to you, to everyone listening. When did you last check the interest rate on your on your mortgage? And if the answer is when we signed or five years ago.

Mel: Which is probably where most people checked. Yeah.

Lawsie: Yeah, then this one's for you because if you weren't prompted into action with all the interest rate rises, then please let me nagging, or let us nagging you be the prompt. because the reason for that is most people just stay with their current bank.

They stay there out of habit, out of inertia, out of not knowing that they're allowed to do anything else. They think I've signed this contract and that's what it is. And the bank relies on it. It's called the loyalty tax and it is absolutely costing you real money every single day, every single month. So while they're quiet, the banks are quietly offering better rates to brand new customers walking in the door. You're still sitting at whatever the rate is that it's just been going up to a down and depending how you've got it all structured. And so our thing for you to do this financially is get your rate reviewed.

Mel: Yeah.

Lawsie: Now you can ring your bank and ask for a better rate. Do it every year, like just put it in your calendar or something to check in and do every 12 months. you know, touch it to your birthday. you're, I don't know, excited and want to have on your birthday, call the bank each year, whatever works. But or if you don't want to talk to the bank, talk to a mortgage broker. That's their whole job exists to be able to find you the best rate for your circumstances. And they know like a good mortgage broker will know. So know some people will turn around and go, but I'm self-employed and I can't. If you're working with a great mortgage broker, they know which banks are currently supporting self-employed people, which ones aren't. All of the things depended on your circumstances. So, and the best thing is they're doing it. You don't even have to do it. All you've got to do is just start the process with them. So yeah, I think it's very important that we do that. And yeah, obviously you do too if you're nagging everyone inside my financial and housing plan.

Mel: Yeah. I am nagging everyone. And it's it was really interesting. CBA put out sorry the Australian Financial Review put out an article last week to say CBA are actually about to drop their interest rates. which for me is a tolling bell to say, well, we know auction clearance rates are dropping, we know house prices are falling, we know there are less people in the market, so less buyers in the market. And if that's the case, that means there's less r loans being written and mortgages being written.

All the big four banks are making well there's certainly at least three of them are making trillions, like s billions of dollars of profit, sorry, maybe not trillions, billions.

And they rely on a lot of that from their mortgages. So they really want your business and they don't want you going somewhere else. So when I read that, my initial thought was, my gosh, everyone based on that alone should be asking for an interest rate cut. And I know ANZ at the moment too, if you put in discharge papers, they're offering two cred two grand a stay. So like the big, big, the big bancer doing a lot to keep you. And I had someone DM me from a reel I put out is saying exactly that.

This week, and she said, CBA knocked me back the minute I asked. And I said, So go to a mortgage broker, ask them to do it for you. It's a free service. And if they knock you back again, say to the mortgage broker, Can you get me a better rate? Because we've it's interesting. I I did a speaking lot of speaking gigs in in March this year with the let the leading ladies of the thank you.

Lawsie: Right what?

Mel: So it was Ray White and leading ladies of real estate and low market. And the thing the the overwhelming thing that I took from that and list and talking to all of those incredible mortgage brokers is that we think that it's a really embarrassing, hard, tough thing to go to a mortgage broker and ask and it's so freaking easy. And she I'll I remember sitting on a panel with a woman up at Brisbane and she said the thing with women particularly they find is we don't want to come in till it's perfect. And she said I just my her wish was that we just come in anyway, like with it messy with it because we are so we'll you'll be surprised

One, they've seen it all before, but two, it's probably better than you think. So there's no they're not judging you. Trust me. Like did you ever like it just became numbers, doesn't it? Like when we were accountants and financial advisors, I think every so often you'd come in and go, Wow, look at how much this person's spending on school fees, maybe, because that was out of our orbit. but like it just we it just was numbers, wasn't it? Yeah.

Lawsie: Yeah. don't know, it's just, it's numbers to them. You might notice anomalies, but it's got to be so out there. Like, tell me that you're earning half a million dollars a year and can't make ends meet. Like that's when I'm going to remember it. But for the day to day of like.

Mel: Mm. Yes, that was the ones you would remember.

Lawsie: Your finances and all of those things like, I'm like, I look and say people's numbers, you know, every day of the week still. and they don't stick with me because it's not like, it's just, it's a number. It's not my number. So I'm not emotionally attached to it. I'm not invested in it, which would be exactly the same as a mortgage broker. It's just like, I just need the figures and the facts and I just need it to balance to get this thing, to get you a better rate for your mortgage. Like just go in and do it. Like there's genuinely, you're nothing there.

Mel: Yeah. And if it's a bit messy, I don't know about you, but I kind of enjoy fixing that. As in like when someone when you can help someone turn it from a bit messy to great and have them feeling good too. Like you just feel good about that. So I'm gonna reframe as you giving your mortgage broker a gift to make them go, yeah, I can do this.

Lawsie: Yeah.

Mel: But it is genuinely one of those moves. It will take five minutes or maybe an afternoon, and it will save you more in a year if skip coffees ever will. And unlike the coffee, you don't have to give up something you love to do it. So, number four is if you didn't set goals in January, set them now, but do it properly. I am I know I love goal setting. And here's the thing about January resolutions. They usually look like this. Get it better with money, pay off my card, start investing, build a buffer, sort my super, read three finance books. And none of those are specific. Like none of those are real goals. There's no plan. It's a wish list for a woman with an extra three hours in her day. Like seriously. And none of it is measurable.

So here's what I want you to do instead, and it's the opposite of what everyone tells you. Don't pick five things that you want this year. Pick one thing. Like just one. Because after more than 25 years in this industry, the women I've watched make the most progress didn't do everything. They did one thing consistently until it was done. And then pick the next thing.

So ask yourself today, what's the one financial thing that if it were done by next June would change the most for me? And I think most of us know that. Like instantly you'll have something jump in. The thing that you've been meaning to do for so long, the thing that is just sits really heavy in your stomach or like a weight on your chest, or maybe just the thing that you know it would be good for you and you just haven't done it yet because maybe you're overwhelmed.

And then this is the step.

That almost everyone skips, make it ridiculously specific. So I want it to be specific enough that a 10-year-old could grade you on it. And I remember when I was first wet writing for the City Morning Herald, they used to say write for a 13-year-old. So write your goals for a 13-year-old. So I want to save Morris in a goal, it's a wish. I want $5,000 in a buffer account by the 30th of June, which means putting $285 a week starting this Friday. That is a goal. Just make sure my maths are right.

Now I think 5,000 bucks over 12 months, it's about 96 bucks a week. So use whatever number matches your buffer in time frame. So the difference between the women who hit their money goals and the ones who don't almost always comes down to that specificity. And it just being simple. Like start with one thing. And one more thing, tell someone. So just one safe person.

Lawsie: Please let me my calculator.

Mel: Not for validation, but Michelle Cox and I, who's a good friend who was on the stage at Her Wealth Herway last year, and also what the person the interviewer for me at Dare to Be Wealthy Sydney launch, we got together in January 2025. Or was it 24? No, 25. Well 24, you reckon? Yeah, it was 24. It was 24.

Lawsie: 24. Depending which goal you're going to talk about, feel like it's 24, but I might be jumping ahead.

Mel: And we sat down, we had a spreadsheet, we put our goals in there, and we said, right, we just need to hold each other accountable to it. And I had been talking about writing a book for five years. She's noting, at least. And I said to her, and I said that to Michelle, I said, my god, I've been thinking about doing this for so long, blah, blah, blah. That is the goal that if I was to have done this by this time next year, I'd be thrilled.

And because and she just eyeballed me and said, Well what do you need to do for that? Like why aren't you doing that? And it's just having someone keep you accountable. And it's funny, when I made that my one goal for that year with her, it was that in fit in health. Like they were my two big pillars.

Like everything moved along. And by I think June, no, April or June that year, I'd had I'd had the book accepted. I had it written by a year's no, it was a bit over a year later. Like it just really steamrolled after that. And I think there is something. But if I had made I I don't want to pick on someone, but there are other people that if I had done that goal setting with, I know if I'd I I wouldn't do it with you unless I 100% was gonna stick with.

'Cause you would just be ruthless.

Lawsie: I don't know what you're talking about.

Mel: Like if I was after relentless whatever, then I would pick you. But otherwise, like Michelle was just that person that she would just make sure I did it.

Lawsie: I think the difference is obviously I nag you day in day out for things. All the details work, got to get all the stuff done. But I think it's different too when you're looking at that bigger goal and when it's something that's not the nitty-gritty and me going I need it for this deadline and I need this, I need that and all of those things but I do believe yeah I'm with you like I think if there is something that you're wanting to achieve and if you're not someone that's naturally driven to just go well this is the goal that I'm doing and I'm working towards it and hello put myself in there then it makes sense to have something, it's got to be the right person and the person that's going to support you and they're going to be able to do that in a way where it's you know like it's a supporting way.

Mel: Yeah It's gotta be the right person or group. Yeah.

Lawsie: But also to hold you to account not your friend that's like oh don't worry that's okay you you can do it next time because that's yeah so you've got to still you know find the right person all the things it might actually be someone that you're not naturally that close to like but they're the ones that go yeah I'll hold you to that so.

Mel: Yes don't give it to that friend. Yes. I'll do it. Yeah. And often that reciprocity is good. I know because we were cause you don't struggle with it. But Michelle and I were both struggling with certain things and goal setting and being accountable. So that it was a natural one for because it w we were both looking for it. yeah, that's such a great you don't want someone that's like, babe.

Don't worry about it, you've been busy. I love Rod, my one of my best fees. No way I'd have Rod be my goal accountability person. I I can hear him now if health was on there. doll, you don't need to worry about that. Exactly. So pick your person. Law-Dog number five.

Lawsie: Let's go have a wine. Yeah, for that. So number five on our list is, and this is if you don't do anything else this new financial year, we want you to check your super. I know exciting for so many people, but the problem is it is that thing that runs in the background for decades. And you know, meanwhile, everyone's telling you don't have avocado on toast out and don't buy your daily coffee, but super is there. And too many people just go, I'll worry about later. Like it's so far away to like an access it. It's retirement.
Mel: Yeah. It's very exciting.

Lawsie: You know that's 20 years 30 years whatever away but the problem is you need to like it is still your money and it is you know right as of now like 12 % of your wage is going into that that is a huge part of your wealth so you need to make sure that you do it so as part of this things that we want you to do because I know I know there's going to be people listening that have not struggling to remember struggling to remember either super fund is with or thinking, maybe I've got two three accounts don't know. our first thing that we want you to find it, find all of your super. So from, you might've had old jobs, it is part-time work, all those things. If you haven't listened to the ads or seen all the ads and the prompts about finding your super, there's billions of dollars sitting out there that is unclaimed. So if it's yours, go and get it. Like that's a show a way to come back to our you know first point about bringing cash in yes she can't spend it now but future you is going to love you for it. Two is it all sitting in the one place now we say this cautiously there is reasons why you may not have all of your super in one particular fund I for one have got two super funds But if you've got multiple funds and they're not for particular reasons You may want to consider rolling it in, know combining that or reducing the number that you've got one Just save your own headache and admin to to hopefully be reducing fees And things like that, but just be mindful of insurances and stuff And if you're not sure with that or if you want advice that's a perfect time to talk to a financial advisor because they can give you that personalized advice on what is the best super fund for your super funds and make sure that nothing is getting missed in that rollover process. Tip number three is to check the fees and what you're actually invested in. does it matter like how your funds are invested? Does that actually match? The timeframes that you've got, you might be young and have a really long runway to do it. So you might be happy taking on greater risk, whereas you might be looking at wanting to retire in the next two years. And so potentially having all of your super, know, you don't hire risk or more like a high growth investment option may not be the right thing for you. So it is just understanding all of that. And also is it invested in the way that you want it to be? Does it align with your values and things? Step four, If you can and only again this is you know it's only if it's right for you remembering this is all just general ideas and tips and tricks is to look at whether you can make a small contribution and if it makes sense for you because you'll be surprised even small amounts you know $10 a week $10 a month whatever it might be if you're doing that consistently and over the long term it all absolutely makes a big difference

And number five, if you've taken a career break or you're planning to have the super splitting conversation with your partner, non-negotiable, I feel like passing this over to you boss. Because like, I think we're all, know, as women we've seen the stats, we know the stats that, you know, women retire roughly with a quarter less than super than men and you know, wanting to try and close that gap or to sort of even things out doesn't just happen by just going, oh, it'd be nice. Or just put some extra in it's making sure that you actually get across what your numbers are and looking at, know, does this make sense? You know, particularly you've got different ages, all the different things to sort of, yeah, have a look at there, but just knowing that super splitting is actually something that is available. So do you want to add anything to that? Cause that is like your ultimate, ultimate way.

Mel: It is like my ultimate thing. I know a lot of people feel uncomfortable about it or they don't know what it is. so it is simply your partner can split eighty-five percent of their previous year's super with you. It takes about five minutes, simple form on their website, and

My theory is if it is both of your money and if you've both decided that you're going to have that gap, then then you're entitled to half of their super. And too many people will say, yeah, but I'll get it anyway. And you do not. Like we've seen so many splits, so many divorces. It is so rare for for women to get half of their partner's super. And women over 55 are most at risk of homelessness. So we just can't abdicate this. So it's really

Saying, hey, honey, you love me? Give me half your super when we're having a career gap. But also it's being aware of the changes in super this year too. So I know you mentioned the 12%, but now you're gonna get it at Payday Super. And as an employer, part of me is really happy with this because it's cash flow, like let's just take it out of my pay, like take in my bank account.

Lawsie: Yeah.

Mel: But like we've just moved to Fortnightly Pay because it is an administrative extra step with penalties attached. So I don't want to be overseas and miss a text message and suddenly you're it's all in trouble. but it is this is the perfect time to check your soup up because you should see it going in more consistently from now on. And if it is not going in essentially a few days after you've been paid.

That should be a red flag that maybe you should just have a conversation with your boss, because either they're just simply not aware of payday super rules, which honestly you'd have to be sitting under a rock that some people are, or just to make sure that that reaches you, because the compounding effect of that is gonna be really huge for many people.

Lawsie: Okay. Yeah, definitely. and just the other thing's true is like the changes in the superannuation cap. So if you are someone that is wanting to put money in, whether and if you're doing that through salary sacrifice or wanting to do after-tax contributions and things like, oh sorry, before tax contributions it's knowing that your concessional contributions now sit at 32.5k, which does include the amount that your employer is putting in. But also those non-concessional caps have gone up as well. So if that is something you're looking at and you are all over your super, you're like, yes, putting more money in is one of the things on my financial to-do list this year. Just being aware of what those caps are, what they mean for you. And if you're not sure particularly with the tax deductibility of things and stuff like that you can always talk to your accountant.

Mel: And I just went in and upped mine this week for Tone and I. Like it took two seconds. It's just changing the direct debit. It might be an email to your boss, like whatever. It is, it really doesn't take long, but it is making sure that if you can get more money in and that is right for you, then to make sure you do my I'm gonna give a bonus tip. I know we said five, I can't help it, I never follow the rules, and that is if you're running a business, because a new financial year is your natural moment to look back. Not on vibes, but on numbers. Like how did last year actually go? Not how it felt, but what did the figures actually say? What made money? What quietly bled money? What kept you going because you've always done it? and then set your numbers for the year ahead. So, real ones. And if you don't know what those numbers are to look for.

We'll put a link in the show notes to Mel's Secret Business Club. I think I've only got nine spots left, but that is what we're gonna be looking at. Your numbers and the activity you need to do, you should be doing to affect those results. But I guess here's the uncomfortable part, and I'm saying it because I've lived it. Sometimes the honest review tells you to let something go. Even something that's working or something that you've loved or something you believe in. And it's that just because something's working doesn't mean it's still right. And I know when I've reviewed, been really surprised what some things have cost. It might be, and for example, photo shoots, for example, and it might be that you're buying little things over time for them, or you're spending every quarter, and so you don't think about it until you see the annual figures and go, wow, that's not happening anymore. Or for me, it was consultants for a while, and then looking at how much I spent over a year and go, Wow, I just have to stop doing that. so it is looking at it amazing.

Making a call.

It is hard, but it is doing it anyway because the numbers are kinder to you in the long run than the avoidances. So look at your numbers, figure out what you want them to be. And I would do the reverse. So I know we said when you're looking at your goals personally, one thing. I think if you're looking at your business, five numbers. So no more than what you can count on the palm of your hand. But those numbers might be your sales, they might be your your net profit, it might be your average sale.

It might be the buffer or the amount that you have in the bank and it might be your wages ratio. Like whatever is right for you, it's figuring it out. It might be your attention rate. That's a really big one that most

business owners don't look enough at. And if you can increase your here's a wild stat. If you can increase your attention rate by five percent, PWC say that that will increase your profit by 25%. Like it this makes a massive difference. It's enormous.

So that's your new financial year. Find more clash, cash, not clash, not find more clashes, find more cash, clear the bad debt and leave it cleared. Talk to a broker, set one specific goal, check your super, and if you're in business, look back honestly before you look forward and set five numbers for the new year. Now, every single one of these things is easier with an actual plan behind it.

And that's exactly what the My Financial Adulting Plan is. And I have to be straight with you today because I say this once and I mean it. This is the final round of empathy. It's not marketing spin, there's not one round left and then it's gone. Over eight weeks, Lulsi and I teach you how to build real wealth, a strategy for debt, for investing, for goals, for understanding why you behave with money the way you do, for shares, for property, for business. And you walk out having built your own financial adulting plan. So the CARD is open.

Now it closes hard at 7.30 on Tuesday the 21st of July. There's about $1,000 worth of bonuses that you get access to immediately. And one of those bonuses is a 30-minute one-on-one with the very fabulous Lausie. But after that

Lawsie: Look at goals.

Mel: That exactly. After that, there is no more weekly live QAs, no accountability groups, no getting into our brains in a closed group. Like whatever we're building now, and we've got a real insight into what that is now. None of none of those are in it. So this is genuinely the last time. So the link is in the show notes. If this is you, stop making vague money promises and actually build the plan. Make sure you check out the My Financial Adulting Plan. So

I hope today you realize that you didn't fall behind because you're not smart enough or disciplined enough or not a money person. It's because no one told you this. It's a design flaw in a system that's not built with you in mind. But the knowing is available to you and it's a new financial year. You've got real numbers, a clean state slate, and no one watching. So pick one of the five things we've talked about today. Start this week, and we'll see you in the next episode. Bye Law-Dog. Enjoy camping.

Lawsie: Thanks, bye!

 

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